Ford Foundation, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Surdna Foundation and The Rockefeller Foundation Launch the Tipping Point Fund to Help Scale the Impact Investing Field
NEW YORK, NY – December 5, 2019 – Leaders from the foundation and family office communities today announced the launch of the Tipping Point Fund (“TPF”), a first-of-its-kind donor collaborative geared towards scaling the practice of impact investing. With $12.5 million in initial funding, the TPF will make strategic grants to support the creation and development of critical market infrastructure that is necessary to maintain the continued growth—and more importantly, the integrity—of the impact investing market.
The TPF will expand on existing field building efforts by prioritizing the areas best suited for collective action but that are unlikely to be funded through market activity alone. To uncover the challenges and barriers that could prevent the market from scaling, a coalition of industry leaders convened by the U.S. Impact Investing Alliance conducted an in-depth analysis of the impact investing industry. Based on this analysis, the group identified two key areas that represent critical field building functions that have received limited financial support to-date and therefore are appropriate for TPF grants.
- Public engagement and policy (e.g., communications campaigns, policy advocacy and implementation) to enable or encourage more investors to enter the market
- Data, metrics and measurement (e.g., standard impact measurement and management fundamentals, data interoperability) to provide greater clarity to market actors and ensure high standards of impact accountability
As a pooled grant fund, the TPF takes a collaborative approach to grantmaking and field building, which encourages funders to agree on a cohesive vision and strategy for scaling the impact investing industry. The TPF also provides an entry point for those new to field building, thereby broadening the coalition of funders and driving more private capital towards solutions with the potential to address today’s most pressing global challenges.
“The impact investing industry is where it is today thanks to the critical work of early field builders and funders. However, in order for this market to scale and meet the needs of today’s world, we must take a more collaborative approach that brings together the financial and intellectual resources of those who are committed to growing this field with integrity,” said Fran Seegull, Executive Director of the U.S. Impact Investing Alliance, which facilitated the co-design of the TPF and will assist in managing its operations on behalf of funders...